This article analyzes how mandatory accounting disclosure is grounded on different
rationales for private and public companies. It also explores technological changes, such as
computerised databases and the Internet, which have recently made disclosure of company
accounts by small companies potentially less costly and more valuable, thanks to electronic
filing and universal online access to credit information systems. These recent developments
favour policies that would expand the scope of mandatory publication for small companies in
countries where it is voluntary. They also encourage policies to reduce the costs and enhance
the value of disclosure through administrative reforms of filing, archive and retrieval systems.
Survey and registry evidence on how the information in the accounts is valued and used by
companies is consistent with these claims about the evolution of the tradeoff of costs and
benefits that should guide policy in this area.